Reading captain Liam Moore could be facing a spell out of the side with a foot injury suffered in the Royals' 3-2 defeat to Coventry City on Friday night, manager Veljko Paunovic has revealed.

Centre back Moore was forced off midway through the second half at St Andrew's to be replaced by Tom McIntryre on Friday night, and is now set to see a specialist to establish the full extent of the damage.

Speaking after the game about the injury suffered by Moore, Paunovic told Berkshire Live: "Liam Moore has picked up that injury so we will have to see how that goes.

"We are going to get the opinion of a specialist in the coming days and we hope that it will not be a long time. We will see how he is."

Moore has emerged as a key figure for Reading this season, playing every league game and helping the club to the top of the Championship table with an unbeaten run in the league that was only brought to an end by Coventry last night.

Next up for Paunovic and his side is the visit of Preston to the Madejski Stadium on Wednesday night, before they host Stoke next Saturday in the final game before the international break.

The Verdict

This would be a huge blow for Reading if Moore was to be sidelined for some time.

The centre back and club captain has been an outstanding figure for the Royals so far this season, and both his quality and leadership will be missed if he is hit with an extended spell of absence.

Indeed, along with questions coming from their first league defeat of the season, having to cope with Moore being unavailable, this next few weeks feel like they could be a test of whether Reading really can go all the way in the battle for promotion this season.